Whoosh! And the city scores a sports hat-trick
Published by Simon Gwynn on Sat 09 Jun 12 @ 22:12
The ticket sale launch for this year's Olympic Football Tournament kicked off a hat-trick of sporting good news of Glasgow this week.
Opening the scoring was the announcement that Glaswegians and visitors to the city can now buy tickets for the five-day Olympic football spectacular based at Hampden Park this summer.
Full price tickets will start at just £20 with special 'pay your age' prices available for young people 16 and under and seniors aged 60 and over.
Reigning Olympic women's champions, the USA, will kick off proceedings when they play France on Wednesday, July 25. In the men's competition, world champions Spain will take to the pitch on Thursday, July 26, for their game with Japan.
The matches in the city will culminate with the Women's Quarter Final on Friday, August 3. Tickets can be purchased at www.tickets.londonn2012.com, or for more information please visit Glasgow City Marketing Bureau's site www.seeglasgow.com/london2012
As part of the Olympic Games experience, free return transport from Glasgow city centre to Hampden Park has been arranged along with a vibrant programme of free entertainment scheduled to take place throughout the Games period.
Glasgow Ambassadors will also be on hand on match days to welcome and assist visitors and provide further information on the city's destination offering.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport in association with the Olympic Delivery Authority will provide a special free shuttle bus service for Olympic football ticketholders.
The Olympic shuttle service will operate on match days from Buchanan Bus Station to designated zones adjacent to Hampden Park.
Free train services have also been arranged for fans travelling to the matches from the city centre. Trains will leave Glasgow Central Station for Mount Florida every match day.
The second goal came with the news that the International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport will take place at the SECC this year.
More than 3000 delegates are expected to attend the conference, bringing a welcome £5-million boost to the city's economy.
The conference, from July 19 to 23, aims to bring together scientific minds, leading experts and policy makers involved in sport and physical education from across the world.
Last month, it was reported that Glasgow is outperforming London in securing lucrative conference business.
Sealing the hat-trick in the dying minutes is the announcement that Glasgow has been named as one of the world's top 10 sporting cities at the prestigious SportBusiness Ultimate Sports City 2012 Awards.
Glasgow moves up two places in the glittering list to number nine and finishes ahead of Olympic cities including Paris, Tokyo, Moscow and Amsterdam, reaffirming its position as one of the world's leading destinations for sporting events.
Glasgow also retained its position as the number one city in the world in relation to sports marketing and branding.
The SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Cities Awards are the internationally recognised rankings of the world's top sports hosts. Held every two years since 2006, the 2012 awards is the fourth time the awards have been handed out.
Glasgow was ranked number 11 in 2010, while at the same time being named number one for sports marketing and branding.
